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South Carolina saw its fourth measles case in 2025, and residents could be at increasing risk during upcoming travel because of ongoing outbreaks in the U.S. and abroad, the state epidemiologist said. “This is a concern because we're seeing now more cases in the last few months in South Carolina than we had previously seen in the last seven years,” said Dr. Linda Bell of the state Department of Public Health. The fourth confirmed case, announced Sept. 26, is an Upstate resident who was unvaccinated and had no previous exposure to measles. There was also no known exposure involved in the three previous cases. The state is not in an outbreak because that is when there are three or more associated cases from an infectious disease. The first two measles cases in South Carolina, reported in July, were associated with each other. The third case was from someone who had traveled internationally to an area where measles is known to be active. All four cases involve Upstate residents. All four people who fell ill are unvaccinated. As of Sept. 23, there have been more than 1,500 confirmed measles cases in the U.S. in 2025, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported. Among them, 92 percent were unvaccinated or their vaccine status was unknown, the CDC said. The measles vaccine is highly effective at protecting against the virus, which is among the most infectious known to man. A single measles case can be expected to generate up to 18 other infections, studies have shown, and it is about twice as infectious as another easily spread scourge, chickenpox. The respiratory virus can linger in an enclosed area for up to two hours after an infected person has left and people can begin to shed virus, or become infectious, before the telltale rash appears.
